Diabetes care specialists play a vital role in today’s health care sector in which the number of people suffering from diabetes has shot up rapidly. In this article, we shall understand about the job description along with their salary in detail.
We all know that diabetes patients need constant care to speed up the recovery process. However, controlling diabetes and taking care of such patients is not just anybody’s job. For that, we need qualified and trained specialists who have the right education, training and work experience. These specialists are in great demand in leading hospitals, health care centers and clinics. Let us first know about the role these people play and their salary subsequently.
Duties of a Diabetes Care Specialist
A qualified specialist monitors the blood pressure, blood glucose level and the diet of diabetes patients. He also conducts some important medical tests such as blood tests and urine tests to know sugar level of the patient. Their job also involves interacting with patients personally and knowing about their lifestyle, health history and other health problems. With the help of this information, the specialists suggest some lifestyle and diet changes to control diabetes effectively.
While prescribing a diet plan to the patients, they consider their age, sex and blood sugar levels of the patients. Diabetes specialists also prescribe suitable medications and drugs to patients to help them bring their health condition back to normal and personally see to it that they take the medicines on time. They are aware of the nursing care plans for diabetes which have helped several patients recover successfully. They are then required to communicate and discuss individual patient cases with the senior doctors in the hospital.
Education Required by Diabetes Care Specialists
Though these care specialists are in great demand, they can get the best jobs in the industry only if they are professionally qualified. To enter this field, you need to have an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree after completing your high school diploma education. In your bachelor’s degree course, you will get acquainted with the basics of medicine and this will lay a strong foundation for your career.
Getting master’s degree in fields such as pharmacology, nutrition, dietetics, optometry or occupational therapy can help you secure good jobs in this field. After your advanced degree, you can get the Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) certification which is highly appreciated in the industry.
Average Salary of Diabetes Care Specialists
The salary range is between $45,000 to $75,000 per year. It mostly depends on the experience, qualification, location of job and type of employer. Those diabetes specialists, who are employed in top hospitals and clinics can get thirty to fifty percent higher salaries as compared to those employed in smaller hospitals. Location of job is also a reason which influences the salary of these medical professionals.
Salaries in metropolitan cities, where need of diabetes health care is big, are better than those in smaller cities. Generally, people with master’s degree command about twenty to thirty percent higher salary than those with a bachelor’s degree. Salary surveys conducted by job market experts have pegged the diabetes care specialist average salary at $54,000 per year. For highly experienced, the salary can be between $65,000 to $85,000 per year.
If you find this medical career interesting, you should be ready for the hard work and try to secure admission in top medical schools to secure your future. All the best!